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True North
True North Episode Number: Season 1, Episode 9 Directed By: Dean White Air Date: January 15, 2012 Previous Episode: Desperate Souls Next Episode 7:15 A.M. "True North" is the ninth episode of Season 1 of the American fairy tale/drama television series Once Upon a Time. The series takes place in the fictional seaside town of Storybrooke, Maine, in which the residents are actually characters from various fairy tales that were transported to the "real world" town by a powerful curse. In the episode, Sheriff Emma Swan helps two children track down their father before they are placed in a foster care system, in a parallel with the story of Hansel and Gretel. Along the way, they encounter The Evil Queen, and The Blind Witch. "True North" was co-written by Liz Tigelaar and David H. Goodman, while being directed by Dean White. Co-creators Adam Horowitz and Edward Kitsis chose the story of Hansel and Gretel to help reveal Emma's difficult backstory, as the character lacked a fairytale counterpart. They cast Caulfield because they were fans of her work on the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The Blind Witch's gingerbread house had a computer-generated exterior, while its interior set was based on concept art designed by production designer Michael Joy. The episode first aired in the United States on ABC on January 15, 2012. An estimated 9.84 million viewers watched the episode on its original broadcast. It earned a Nielsen ratings share of 3.3/8 among adults, meaning that it was seen by 3.3 percent of all 18- to 49-year-olds, and 8 percent of all 18- to 49-year-olds watching television at the time of broadcast. This was a decrease of 11 percent from the Desperate Souls. Critical reception was largely mixed to negative, with critics praising Caulfield's performance but critiquing other elements. Plot 'Opening Sequence' A gingerbread house is shown in the forest. 'In the Character's Past' In the Enchanted Forest, Hansel and Gretel, are searching for kindling while their father chops firewood. He gives Gretel a compass so they won't be separated, but when they return, he is nowhere to be found. As they search they run into The Evil Queen and are captured. She tells the two that she can help find their father, on the condition that they retrieve an item belonging to her from The Blind Witch. They must enter her gingerbread house when The Blind Witch is asleep and fetch The Evil Queen's leather satchel, but they must not eat a thing. They break in safely, but Hansel gives in to the temptation of taking a bite of a cupcake, causing The Blind Witch to wake up. While she cannot see the children, she can smell their scent. The Blind Witch locks them up and prepares the oven to roast them. The two, working together, are able to push the witch into her own oven as The Evil Queen gleefully watches from her mirror. When the two return to The Evil Queen's palace, she opens the satchel to reveal a poisoned apple. The Evil Queen offers Hansel and Gretel a home at the palace, but they are adamant about returning to their father. She sends them back into the forest and summons her newest prisoner, Hansel and Gretel's father. The Evil Queen asks why the children turned down the luxurious life of the palace and he answers that they are family, and family finds each other. Frustrated, she sends him away to see if they indeed find each other. 'Storybrooke' In a Storybrooke drugstore, Henry meets a young girl named Ava. Henry is stopped by the store owner for shoplifting, which reveals Ava and her brother Nicholas were using Henry to smuggle stolen merchandise. Regina and Sheriff Emma Swan arrive to handle the juveniles. Emma discovers the siblings are living without parents and almost no food. In need of help, Emma resolves to find Ava and Nicholas's father out of a desire to keep them out of the foster system she herself was raised in. Regina calls social services, but the system would have to place the kids in two different homes in Boston. Determined to keep her promise not to separate them, Emma asks them for something that had belonged to their father. Ava provides her with a compass. Emma asks Mr. Gold about the compass and he searches his records. He finds a card that supposedly says Michael Tillman purchased the compass, and gives Emma this name. The card is revealed to be blank. Michael is the garage mechanic, and tells Emma he can barely handle the garage let alone twins. Emma has no choice but to take Ava and Nicholas to Boston on Regina's orders, despite Henry's warnings that no one can leave Storybrooke. That evening as the three are leaving, the vehicle breaks down as they reach the city limits, prompting Emma to call for help. Moments later, Ava notices her compass working. Michael arrives in his tow truck, and Emma explains that he at least has to see his children, as she could not leave Henry after seeing the life he had. Seeing Ava and Nicholas face to face changes his mind, and Michael accepts them into his life. Later, Emma shares Henry's theory with Mary Margaret, that she is Snow White's daughter and Mary Margaret is Snow White. Mary finds this laughable, but seeing Emma's blanket triggers some sort of reaction from her. After a minute, however, she is quick to dismiss it as nothing. In the meantime, Henry asks Emma about his father. Emma tells Henry that his dad was a trainee fireman who used to frequent the diner where she worked. The two of them "hung out" a few times, resulting in Emma being pregnant with Henry before she went to jail. Once there, she tried to tell him about Henry, only to discover that he had died while saving a family from a burning building. However, she later admits to Mary the story she gave Henry was a lie and he should never know the truth about his father. After Emma's reunion of the children with Michael that evening, Henry arrived with pumpkin pie to give Emma in order to thank her for explaining about his birth father. They are interrupted by a stranger on a motorcycle with a unique box. Without giving his name, he asks Emma about finding a place to stay. After referring him to Granny's Bed and Breakfast, she reminds Henry that he said no one else ever comes to or leaves Storybrooke and Henry replies that they don't. Cast Starring *Ginnifer Goodwin as Snow White/Mary Margaret Blanchard *Jennifer Morrison as Emma Swan *Lana Parrilla as The Evil Queen/Regina Mills *Josh Dallas as Prince Charming/David Nolan/Prince James *Eion Bailey as Pinocchio/August Booth *Jared S. Gilmore as Henry Mills *Raphael Sbarge as Jiminy Cricket/Archie Hopper *Robert Carlyle as Rumplestiltskin/Mr. Gold Guest Starring *Quinn Lord as Hansel/Nicholas Zimmer *Karley Scott Collins as Gretel/Ava Zimmer *Nicholas Lea as The Woodcutter/Michael Tillman *Emma Caulfield as The Blind Witch *Lee Arenberg as Grumpy *Gabe Khouth as Sneezy/Tom Clark *Faustino di Bauda as Sleepy *David Paul Grove as Doc *Michael Coleman as Happy *Mig Macario as Bashful *Jeffrey Kaiser as Dopey *David Bloom as Mr. Krzyszkowski Trivia Production Notes= *The opening title card features the Gingerbread House. *The press release wrongly credits Quinn Lord as "Josef". *The Gingerbread House's exterior was a computer generated-image based on show production designer Michael Joy's concept sketches. The interior, however, was a real-life "inside-out cake" constructed by Michael Joy and set decorator Mark Lane. *The events in "True North" take place a month after Emma's arrival to Storybrooke, as she states to Michael. *The overhead view of the Infinite Forest is reused as stock footage in "Best Laid Plans", but with a different color hue. |-|Goofs= *Hansel dips a finger in the a circular shaped icing on the outside of the Gingerbread House. After Gretel gives him a warning look and the camera gives a frontal angle of the house, part of the icing is missing. When Gretel climbs up to peek inside the window, the icing is fully coated again.